Reviews by arboristfish:

This beer pours a deep amber color, almost reminds me of a blood color. The head is off white, almost tan looking. The aroma reminds me of black licorice, and caramel malts. The taste is balanced with carmel malts and hops. The mouthfeel is medium with a good carbonation. Overall for an imperial I consider this a very drinkable beer.

More User Reviews:

Enjoyed on-tap at Three Cellars in Franklin, WI. Pours a very dark brown (almost black but not quite) body with a thin off white head that falls to a cap. Not much in the aroma department. Medium to full bodied mouthfeel with low carbonation. This one is very smooth tasting and doesn't overpower with roasted malts. There is a slight alcohol warmth in the finish, but is not much considering it's a 9% beer. Great drinkability.

Deep dark red pour with a quarter inch of khaki head on top that sticks around for awhile. Aromas start off with dense, rich malts...toasted, nutty with lots of dark fruits swirling about. Caramel and baked bread with raisins and a touch of earthy spiciness.

First sip brings dark malts, dense and toasted with dark fruits and nutty accents swirling about. Sweet caramel and some alcohol as it flows down. A bit of baked bread and a touch of chocolate. Pretty good stuff.

Mouthfeel is smooth and not overly heavy. Good carbonation and fairly easy to drink. Not too sweet which I enjoy. This is a tasty amped up doppelbock from Capital. Thanks to braconid for the opportunity!

Smell: Molasses, soy sauce and dark fruits. Very sweet and quite strong until I finished the glass.

Taste: Loads of molasses, licorice and soy sauce. Some light roasted characteristics, cherry and plum. While sweet, it is not as sweet as the aroma. Some very light noble hops on the finish help to balance at the finish.

Feel: Moderately low carbonation with a full body. Not quite as chewy or chalky as some other Doppelbocks of this strength (which is good), likely sure to the addition of sugar to lighten the body. Warming and fairly clean.

Overall: Another strong Doppelbock from Capital, but not up to the level of Autumnal Fire, or Celebrator for that matter, which it seems to be a higher abv version of.

Clean malt with a little sherry or port on the nose. Pours deep brilliant chestnut with a very thin head. The palate is dark bread malty, alcoholic, sweet, with some kettle sugars amd a hint of anise on the end. The beer is chewy, clean and smooth with slightly below average carbonation.

Dark cherry bronze with a rapidly fading khaki foam. No real lace to speak of.
Black cherry, plum, grainy dark breads, and brandy aroma, with a fat dollop of brown sugar.
Brown sugar, cherry, and plums are the mainstays in the mouth. Graininess arrives soon after. Brandy adds a low alcoholic flare. And while all this is well and good, that's all there is. There is no nuance to tease out. No developing flavors. No depth. Nothing besides basic dark fruit, sugar, grain, and booze. Despite being larger, this seems a shell of the original Dark Doppelbock. For 9% its tasty and drinkable, but their standard Doppelbocks historically pack in more flavor.
The body is glossy, thin factoring in the girth, with low-moderate carbonation that fizzles out quickly.
I'm at a crossroads with Capital.
Their general drift away from German styles sounded an alarm, and most recently, I thought the latest release of Eisphyre was lacking a great deal when compared to the aged version, but I'm holding out for improvement over time. Having nothing to directly compare this to (besides the old dark doppel, which I'd swap for in a second), I just hope it ages very well.
It seems that Capital remains in its tailspin. While this beer is by no means bad, it just seems like something Capital should have hit out of the park. And it simply isn't worth $11 a 4-pack.

Poured the deepest shade of clear red without being pitch black, deep garnet highlights when held up to the light with a thin off white head.

Big cedar and brown sugar doppel nose with toffee and caramel as well.

The flavor is smooth and mild with cedar, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, and dark fruit notes all coming through nicely. Very mild on the hops as I would expect but not overly sweet and very mild alcohol notes.

A - It pours a dark amber-brown with a redish hue to it. Totally clear with a low tan head, moderate retention leaves more legs on the glass than lace.

S - Modesty is the "big" thing about the aroma here. The nose isn't bursting out but it is bursting with flavor if you will. Toasted malts are really bread-like with a strong sweetness in tow. There is a small butterscotch and dark fruit hint on the finish.

T - A bold, dark candi sugar sweetness bursts fourth with a strong breaded malt flavor and a moderate alcohol kick to the finish. The sweetness is a touch cloying and the alcohol on the end feels a bit disjointed but I can't exactly put my finger on what it is. A touch metallic.

M - Full-bodied and robust, it's a smooth and thick dopple that could definitely do some lent-sustaining. Low carbonation to the finish and a slight alcohol warmth/burn.

D - Unfortunately the combination of alcohol and sweetness in this dopplebock doesn't fair to well with me. Not a bad offering, but coming from Capital, one of the best "heavy malt use breweries" (as far as I'm concerned), it's one of their weaker beers.

t: full, dark euro malt flavor, rich and sweet blend of nuts and dark fruit, solidly malty with only a faint bitterness in the finish, then dries a bit and turns to wood/bark and cocoa beans with notes of burnt coffee, only complaint - the malts are left largely unchecked and tend to build over time

d: quite easy given the abv, another nice bock lager from capital - just on the edge of higher scores

Big thanks to Gary for giving this bottle, knowing that Doppelbocks are some of my faves.

Pours a dark dark amber color, a vigorous pour presents a decent sized light tan head, fades at a fast rate, leaving some big bubbles on top but those eventually pop away, hardly any lacing on the glass.

Smell is mostly caramel malt with a light fruity sweetness in the nose.

Taste is primarily caramel malt, picking up the candied sugar that they added which adds a bit of complexity, not overly sweet like some Doppelbocks can be which is surprising considering the candied sugar, lightly creamy, seems a bit thin though but at least it isn't cloying, not picking up any heat or strength whatsoever.

Pours out next to black in a tulip glass, from a glance, but shows to be a very dark garnet when held to the light. Laced poorly and held weakly. No trace of a cap on top.

Black plum and raisin are part of the dark fruity aroma that dominates. Some hints of dry powdery baker's chocolate. The aroma could stand to pop a bit more, but it smells nice.

Dry roasty flavor with dark fruity backing. Nice raisin presence. Finishes clean and dry with a little bitterness. Not especially chocolately, but it is noticeable, moreso on the finish. Faint yeasty spice shows on the finish. This is a good choice for those who don't want too sweet of a doppelbock. It's really tasty, hitting that mark of simple deliciousness. The candi sugar gives it a little Belgian character, which is interesting, but fortunately the beer is never cloying. The score is not going to reflect how much I like this. The flavor is almost a 5 for me.

Surprisingly light body, but not hot from the 9.0% at all. I feel it a bit in my stomach from the large gulps that the flavor encourages. I guess I expect a more syrupy doppelbock, but the lighter body suits the dryness well. Low carbonation probably explains the lazy head retention.

This goes down very easily, and is probably my favorite American doppelbock to date. I strongly prefer this to the Autumnal Fire. Easy to have a second bottle in a sitting. But at $13 a four pack, the cost is a bit prohibitive, even if it is a rather nice beer. I can still pay half as much for Optimator, which is kind of a peer of this. Doppelbocks and Baltic porters make a great change of pace from imperial stouts. I really recommend a try for those who like this style.

The smell is clean and classic, some dark bread, caramel, and a subtle bit of alcoholic sweetness are all that is in there.

The flavor is a bit more bold and adventurous. There is a sharp bitterness not usually found in this style. Other than that is is a big, dark doppelbock with lots of dark fruit, dark bread, and caramel.

A- Pours a tan tea like color with about a fingers worth of head that dissipated quickly.

S- Dark fruits and caramel. The aroma off this one is rather nice.

T- Up front is the dark fruit mostly raisin and some fig. Get a taste of chocolate at the end. The alcohol is no where to be seen in the taste.

M- Slightly chewy and a good thickness for a dopplebock.

D- This is one easy drinking brew. There is no way to tell that this sits at a nice 9% abv. Goes down smooth and begs you to have another sip. Only got one of these from a buddy to try but can see myself buying a few more of these in the future.

I'm kinda digging these random singles at Binny's. You never know what you're gonna find. This particular find pours a dark garnet topped by a finger of ecru foam. The nose explodes with bread, both rye and pumpernickel (possibly some wheat bread as well), along with some dashes of caramel, toffee, and light cocoa. The taste follows pretty closely, though some dark fruits (figs, raisins, the like) make their presences known as well. The body is a solid medium, with a very light moderate carbonation and a smooth, grainy feel. Overall, a solid d-bock, a very nice example of the style, though it somehow falls just short of exceptional (not very far at all, I should add).

Pours a deep ruby/brown with a one finger head that recedes within a few minutes to a light bubble lacing. Nice caramel sweetness, but well balanced. Light alcohol taste. A dark fruit flavor emerges as the beer warms a bit. Very drinkable for the alcohol content. Kind of pricey for the 4 pack, but well worth it for a taste.

Poured with minimal head. The color is that of a dark, dark port wine. Some lacing but as with the head it's minimal.

It smells very sweet with a touch of malt but that's pretty much it. Maybe a little dried fruit in there but that may be my imagination.

The taste is completely at odds with the smell - it's not sweet. Some burnt sugar flavor and bitterness, but the bitterness never becomes excessive. The aftertaste is again that of a port wine, less the sweetness that you'd expect from port.

The mouthfeel is creamy and smooth. Really very nice.

It's not real high on the drinkability scale for me. The flavor is a bit one dimensional until the aftertaste kicks in and there isn't the richness that I'd hope for in a dopplebock.

Pours a deep, brown amber color with virtually no head. A little bit of spice and dark fruit in the aroma. Sweet and toasted malt flavor. Extremely smooth with an alcohol warmth. Not altogether dissimilar from the Autumnal Fire/Eisphyre line - some slight nuances. Prefer those, but this is okay.

Bottled 17 December 2009. Wow, that's a long time ago. But I believe it was the last time they bottled it, and a brewery rep was recently pouring samples at my local shop (which is when I bought this one).

Pours chocolate brown with amber highlights. It absorbs all light, but at the narrow edges it's crystal clear. Half a finger of head, gone in a flash, but nice spotty lacing.

Smell: this is a serious fruity malt bomb. I get barrels and barrels of plums. In fact, that's about all I get.

Taste is similar. Loads of dark stone fruit, some bready flavors. Alcohol comes on at the end, bringing astringency and bitterness. A little oxidation, but that's to be expected.

Heavy-bodied and chewy, but pretty darn flat. Alcohol dries up the finish.

Not the best of Capital's doppelbocks, IMO. A bit one-dimensional, with really strong fruity malts, but not much beyond that. Hope they brew another batch so I can try it fresh.